don't worry my love (we're learning to love)
by huntressed
Summary: It was only a few months ago during that trip to the Ski Lodge when he made her the promise of someday. To Josh, it may just be as simple as them gravitating back to each other one day and eventually pursuing each other as they were meant to be. But for Maya, the promise of someday meant that they will conquer the universe one day. JoshMaya.


**THERE WAS NEVER** an age limit when it came to when a person was going to feel such a series of confusing emotions. Maya Hart seemed to have understood that perfectly. With her logic that the laws of the universe were only mere suggestions, and that the human mind was capable of formulating thoughts and experiences beyond its years, that shouldn't be such a hard concept to grasp for her.

But of course, there were limitations to just about everything she could ever experience. Like how she could never explore New York City for two days in a row because she desperately needed sleep. Or like how she could never really reach that high because she had always been so vertically challenged. Everything came with their consequences and scopes – that one Maya still had to get a hold of.

Josh Matthews was one of the many people who proved that limitations do exist. It was only a few months ago during that trip to the Ski Lodge when he made her the promise of someday. To Josh, it may just be as simple as them gravitating back to each other one day and eventually pursuing each other as they were meant to be. But for Maya, the promise of someday meant that they will conquer the universe one day. That it would be Josh and Maya taking on the world.

He wasn't aware of that yet, but he would be eventually.

Sometime after Riley's Beloved Bear went missing, Josh started to drop into the Matthews' household more often than not. Maya acted like she didn't notice, but when it came to the youngest Matthews sibling, she noticed every single bit of detail associated with him.

One afternoon, Maya was sitting on the bay window of the living room, painting the busy streets of New York City with so much eagerness and fervour that she didn't notice her someday walking through the door with an exhausted look on his face.

It was only when he collapsed on the couch with a loud groan that Maya was able to peel herself away from the world of colours, brush strokes, pencil shading, and city imageries. Upon noticing the current state Josh had entered the room in, there was nothing else in Maya's eyes other than worry.

"The hell happened to you, Boing?"

"Architecture did. And now all I want is nothing more than to just sleep for like twelve years." He replied as he buried his face further into the couch, all the light disappearing from his sight.

Though Maya couldn't really grasp the full idea of college yet, she knew that college kids are often stressed and sleep deprived. They would consume irregular amounts of coffee just to make sure that everything gets handed down on time. It scared her; college. And it definitely scared her even more when she finally saw Joshua Matthews complaining about it.

"Sad to say you can't sleep for twelve years unless you're in some kind of advance medical induced coma. But dreams are free, though. So go ahead and take one." Came her witty remark. Though Maya always said these remarks out of love and adoration, especially when it was Josh she's talking to.

Josh laughed, his eyes crinkling while the sunlight hits it in the most adorable way imaginable. Maya's heart melted in her ribcage as she stared. "Do me a favour and study chemical engineering, or biochemistry. Who knows maybe you're the one who gets to discover these medically advanced comas which we can do ourselves."

"You mean a DIY coma? Well I'm an artist, and that seems like art – I'll give it my best shot." After that, he never replied. As Maya guessed, he was fast asleep on the couch with his mouth slightly opened.

As gently as possible, she ran her fingers through his hair before going back to her land of colours, brush strokes, pencil shading, and city imageries.

 **...**

 **THE FIRST TIME** she felt like her heart was actually going to pop out of her chest was when Josh held her hand for the first time after Riley's bear went missing. She was sure that it held a platonic meaning to it, just as it held a romantic meaning to it altogether. It made her feel like she was on top of the universe, like she had finally conquered and raced Farkle to world domination.

It happened at four in the afternoon at Topanga's. Maya was wearing a blue apron along with her yellow button up, jeans, and her messy ponytail. She'd offered assistance to her mother and Mrs. Matthews for they had been going off about how more and more people start to go to their humble little bakery and they're starting to lack a little bit of manpower.

Maya was more than happy to volunteer herself, in return Topanga promised her three dollars per hour.

During her well-deserved break, a certain uncle of a certain best friend came through the glass doors. He was carrying a look of utter annoyance, along with a clear book which she assumed was full of lectures and different notes meant for his architecture course.

"Hey Boing!" She greeted him enthusiastically, though his face screamed the entire opposite of the expression she was wearing. He acknowledged her, though, and gave her a tiny smile when he walked towards the table she was sitting on.

"College still beating your ass up?" Even with such a question that was hinting a really inconvenient event, Maya's eyes were still glinting with the kind of sparkle she held for Josh.

He laughed, but even then he still sounded tired. "All the time."

"Oh come on! If anyone can handle NYU, it's you. Keep your chin up, Matthews."

There's a crinkle in his tired eyes, and a genuine smile on his face as he faced Maya. "Thanks, ferret." And then he held her hand, squeezing it lightly before disappearing off to the counter to buy the biggest cup of to-go coffee Maya has ever seen.

If hearts could enter a jump rope competition, it would be Maya's who'd win. Her stomach was infested with butterflies and there was a huge grin on her face that never disappeared until the end of her shift.

Somehow, it wasn't all that she could get from Joshua Matthews. She understood why he's holding himself back from feeling everything for Maya. The age difference and the law of the United States would just take him by the ankles and drag him off to wherever lawbreakers go. Maya didn't want that for him.

Besides, they were just starting out. They have so much more time to discover everything they needed to about themselves. Rushing would only mean that they didn't fully understood the concept of their promise. Maya would wait, she was more than willing to.

 **...**

 **BY THE TIME** Maya was a junior in high school, it was finally clear to everyone and anyone that Maya Hart was off limits. And that a certain college boy had managed to settle himself in her heart for good. Maya had thought about dating other people, that maybe there were other things the world could offer them. But in every single boy, she had to look for Josh.

She stopped looking at other boys then. No matter how hard some of her friends tried to set her up with other boys, she would only tell them how Joshua Matthews was the only boy she'll ever go on a date with.

Whenever Josh was in the Matthews' apartment, Maya took her time discovering more and more things about him. Like how he squints his eyes a little bit before drawing a precise line for his plates, just to make sure that the were perfectly aligned with the rest of his drawings. Or how his need for caffeine has generally increased over the years.

What used to be a single cup of the largest size of coffee he could buy, it was joined with another – only one size smaller since. Maya assumed that these were crucial years for the specific program he'd entered, and she was patient with him. She knew that Josh wanted to be the best architect he could be, and she wanted that for him too.

In the middle of doing her History homework, the door opened and in came a very drunk Joshua Matthews. He was laughing, though rather drunkenly, it still sounded a bit genuine. It took him a good few seconds before his eyes adjusted to the lighting of his surroundings, and to the petite blonde sitting on the couch with papers scattered everywhere on the table in front of her.

"Oh hi, little ferret!" He exclaimed before plopping down on the couch beside her. "You look like me during hell week."

She gave him a quizzical look before rolling her eyes, "I don't want to become a stressed college student this early. Don't tell me that."

"You will be though, eventually. Or not. If you do take art I doubt you'll ever have to cram for anything in your life. You just do it so passionately, you know? I look at you sometimes and you're so lost in what you're drawing or painting that it's actually really beautiful. And I see how happy you are and I doubt you'll ever feel stressed doing something you love." His words weren't slurred, in fact, he said all of these without sounding like he was drunk. But the dazed look in his eyes and the little quirk of his lips suggested that he still was very much drunk.

That didn't mean Maya's heart wasn't fluttering when he was saying those words, though. She didn't dare put a label to what she was feeling, but she knew that it implied an emotion far bigger than the way it felt. It scared Maya to embrace that and the general name for it. So she just proceeded to stare at Josh when he finally dozed off on the couch with his lips parted and his hair messed up.

After all, why rush the feelings? She was still learning, and she had a lot of figuring out to do. But she was certain that this? Josh and her? This was going to last.

* * *

 **note:** So I finally fixed the problem, I'm sorry if any of you were inconvenienced by this. Also, fanfiction won't let me indent my stuff wtf.


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